Leaky Waveguide Devices for use in Fourier Transform Analysis of Electrophoretic Separations.

Presented here is a novel application of Leaky Waveguide Devices to electrophoretic separations with Fourier Transform detection. The Leaky Waveguide Device couples light into and out of a microflow channel, providing an increase in the detection pathlength relative to traditional fixed-point illumination methods. This increased path length results in an increase in the analytical sensitivity, and could also allow real-time kinetic analysis of electrophoretic analytical separations. The Leaky Waveguide Device is constructed from injection moulded polystyrene, which not only reduces the production costs per single unit, but also allows application in areas where contamination must be avoided and one-shot devices are desirable.